Selling Your Home Without A Real Estate Agent

Having a house is among probably the biggest investments most folks ever make. When it is time to market the property of yours, the regular practice is usually to find a real estate agent.

After the sale, the agent of yours and also the buyer’s agent will share aproximatelly 6-7 % of the sale price as the commission of theirs, which amounts to a hefty portion of your equity being lost to the real estate agents.

After purchasing and selling multiple properties, I finally realized I was paying the real estate agents too much money for something I could deal with myself. I discovered how I could build a Kelowna homes for sale by owner website and can sell a property while retaining a lot more equity than in case I’d hired an agent.

What Does The Realtor Do?

A real estate agent essentially does 4 things for his or perhaps her commission:

Lists the home of yours with the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
Markets your home though fliers, advertisements, and a web site.
Facilitates showings of the house of yours and possibly hosts open houses.
Acts as an intermediary for negotiations and helps you with the closing.

After working with real estate agents on a number of occasions, I chose to try selling a home on my own. Allow me to share the steps to follow in case you choose to forego using a real estate agent to sell your home:

How to Be Your Own Real Estate Agent

1. Price Your Home Competitively
Before you list the property on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or perhaps anywhere else, make sure you have priced the home competitively. Search on the internet to get a concept of selling prices for comparable homes in the neighborhood of yours, and then price your house accordingly.

It is not hard to get hung up on this step and, particularly in case you have lived in the home of yours for some time, you might be compelled to overprice the home. Do not fall into that trap. Also remember, the goal of this procedure is usually to sell the home of yours, so make sure the asking price is actually realistic.

2. Obtain a MLS Flat Fee Listing
The MLS is considered the most comprehensive list of real estate for sale in Canada. It’s available to agents, and prospective customers may also search for homes using the MLS. You will find services which enable you to list the property of yours on the MLS for much less than hiring an agent. Search for “Flat Fee MLS BC” online to find similar services in the area.

3. Marketing The Property
Apart from listing the home on the MLS, advertise by putting up “for sale” signs, creating brochures, putting ads on Craigslist, and building a web site to market the property. This website offers low prices for showcasing your home to local Kelowna buyers.

There’ll be some costs involved in advertising the sale of the house of yours, but they’ll be a tiny proportion of an agent’s commission. The real price is the level of energy and time you are going to need to put into selling the house of yours.

4. Holding Your Open House
You are able to also hold an open house to promote the sale of the home. Advertise for the open house by posting signs in the neighborhood. Have some light refreshments available and set out brochures about the home that visitors are able to take with them as they leave.

5. Know Your Homes Best Selling Points
When writing your ad copy for brochures or sites, make sure to include basic info about your home, like the price, how many bedrooms, the number of bathrooms, location, lot size, and obviously the specific details that make the house special to potential buyers.

Check out other listings online to get a sense of what sort of details sellers and agents are actually including in the listings of theirs. You will quickly discover that features as granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and oversized windows entice buyers. Determine what is special about the home of yours and highlight those features in the marketing efforts of yours.

6. Prepare to Show The Home
You are going to have to prepare the house of yours for open house events and showings. Deep-clean the house, including scrubbing the kitchen counters and also the appliances, shampooing the carpets, cleaning the flooring, and stashing the keepsakes of yours in a closet. The last result must be a home that is very clean and stripped bare of your personal items.

7. Showing The Home
You are going to have to put a key in a lock box and answer calls from other agents or perhaps buyers. In case you’re at home during the day, you are able to show the house yourself. Or else, you are going to have to verify the identity of the agent before giving out your lock box combination.

Another alternative is usually to find an agent who is going to perform this function for a fee without asking you for a commission on the sale price of the house. After an agent shows the house of yours, be sure to call to follow up on the showing. A number of agents are going to share the buyer’s feedback with the homeowner, in case they believe it will not compromise their clients’ confidentiality.

8. Perform Your Own Real Estate Negotiations
The negotiations take the form of a contract which is actually submitted to the seller. The seller is able to accept the offer, or perhaps revise the contract and submit it to the customer. The process goes on until both parties sign the contract.

In Canada, there’s a standard contract for real estate purchases. In the event that you’re not familiar with the contract, you need to have it reviewed by your lawyer. Or perhaps, you are able to look for an agent that is going to perform this function with you for a flat fee.

Agents love to close deals quickly so they are able to get the commission of theirs, even in case you do not eventually receive the amount you would like. They might even tell your negotiating position to the customer. If perhaps you’re a distressed seller, that’s the last thing you’d actually want an enthusiastic customer to find out. Doing all of your own negotiating ensures you don’t give away great indications of your financial strengths and weaknesses.

9. Comply with All Local Laws That Apply
It is critical that you comply with all laws related to selling your property. A number of laws are universal and will be applicable to the sale of your house no matter where you reside. Contracts and agreements found online is able to help get you started on the marketing process, but remember, those forms are not specific to the unique circumstance of yours. It is best to have a lawyer review all documents and contracts related to the sale.

Final Word On Selling Your Home

Offering a house isn’t for everybody. Lots of people won’t have the patience or perhaps the time to cope with the progression. Whatever your case, when planning to list your property, at least consider the great savings you can enjoy by selling your property on your own.

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Add Your Home For Sale

With real estate agents’ commissions often as high as 7 percent of a home’s sale price, it’s tempting to hang out a “For Sale by Owner” sign and save the commission. After all, FSBO could put an additional $25,000 in your pocket if you sell your house for $725,000, the recent median single-family home sale price in Kelowna according to Global News.